Cousin Leroy writes from the Bronx, New York, where he has lived since 1994 and watches Jamaican politics like it is a sport, which it largely is.
Wah gwaan, people! Cousin Leroy checking in from the Bronx on this fine Monday morning to give all of you the real version of what happening back home.
First thing: the crime numbers. Thirty-three murders in January 2026. Thirty-three! Do you know what that means? That is the LOWEST January murder figure since they started keeping records in 2001. Twenty-five years of data and THIS government, under THIS Prime Minister, put up a number like that. Plan Secure Jamaica is working. The results are there in black and white. Cousin Leroy has been saying this for years — when you plan and you execute, you get results. Respect due to the security forces.
The housing programme at Stony Hill — twelve people, including families from a 2023 fire, now have solid, proper homes with titles they can pass to their children. The Prime Minister said it himself: a house with a title is an asset. An asset builds generational wealth. This government understands that. Not everyone in politics understands generational wealth but this one does.
Caymanas Special Economic Zone — hundreds of jobs coming. Hundreds! Cousin Leroy’s nephew is looking for work and this is exactly what is needed. Real investment, real infrastructure, real employment.
CARIFTA Games — yes we got one relay gold, not four. But Jamaica TOP the medal table! One bad relay day doesn’t erase what our young athletes are doing in Grenada. Kishane Thompson winning in Florida too. Our athletics programme remains the pride of the Caribbean.
Now the fuel price — look, yes it went up. Global oil market is what it is. You can’t blame Andrew Holness for the price of oil. That is international. Cousin Leroy has driven in New York and the gas here is not cheap either. The government can only control what it can control.
As for JACDEN — let the process work. Mark Golding did the right thing asking Gordon to step aside. The process is moving. In Jamaica, we have institutions. Let the institutions function.
Alright people, have a blessed Monday. Jamaica rising. Whether you see it from the Bronx or from Half Way Tree, the facts are the facts.
— Cousin Leroy, The Bronx, New York
[Cousin Leroy is a fictional character who represents diaspora optimism and selective attention to headlines. His views do not reflect the editorial position of the Guyana Daily Brief, which has no view on Jamaican relay gold medals, though it thinks one is not enough.]